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Ah, yes, I saw it posted before here in B&B... lots of "So Gillette is selling the better blades in India" in the comments. Just a company squeezing the bucks out of a country that can't afford 12 blade razors. Smart move from a business point of view (as smart as not selling them in countries that can afford MAch3s)

I bought a Gillette Guard and several refills for travel and they work great. I get an incredibly close shave from them and no matter how much pressure I use, there's no irritation, nicks or weepers. I think it's a great product.

"Squeezing bucks"?? They're not forcing anyone to buy them and there's plenty of alternatives to be found. Give the Indians some credit. If they're buying up the Guard, it just might be because they've found that they're worth it, and not every one in India is dirt poor.

I can't fault the quality of the shave, beats all multiblade carts for me.

Even though it is a step into the dark side, I must admit they got a winner.

However, I have no doubt it's successor (do not know the life cylce for the indian market) will be a step backwards into the multiblade facemowers that have ruined shaving for many uninformed western wetshavers. (the reason why I used electrics before discovering traditional wetshaving).

I bought a Gillette Guard and several refills for travel and they work great. I get an incredibly close shave from them and no matter how much pressure I use, there's no irritation, nicks or weepers. I think it's a great product.

"Squeezing bucks"?? They're not forcing anyone to buy them and there's plenty of alternatives to be found. Give the Indians some credit. If they're buying up the Guard, it just might be because they've found that they're worth it, and not every one in India is dirt poor.

Of course not everyone in India is dirt poor, but if a quarter of them earn less than 40 cents a day (USD)(2005 figures) they really aren't choosing between the guard and the Mach 3 right?... I assume you're American, and your definition of dirt poor is minimum salary 5-12 USD an hour depending on your state, which allows "dirt poor" people to buy Mach3s. By selling .02USD razors they are getting a new market of over a quarter of a billion Indians who can't afford the rest of the Gillette products (apart from their DE blades, which have tough competition).

Of course not everyone in India is dirt poor, but if a quarter of them earn less than 40 cents a day (USD)(2005 figures) they really aren't choosing between the guard and the Mach 3 right?... I assume you're American, and your definition of dirt poor is minimum salary 5-12 USD an hour depending on your state, which allows "dirt poor" people to buy Mach3s. By selling .02USD razors they are getting a new market of over a quarter of a billion Indians who can't afford the rest of the Gillette products (apart from their DE blades, which have tough competition).

As far as I know, they still have the DE option, right? I don't think Gillette took that option away from them, nor could they. As long as they have that choice, I don't see how you can possibly say that Gillette is squeezing bucks out of anyone. How can providing the consumer with another option be a bad thing? Given them some credit....Indians are smart people and they're not going to spend their hard earned money on something just because of some flashy marketing. They spend their money on it only if they feel it's the best value for them. Is that so hard to accept?

Bringing the Guard to the Indian market is certainly a great business strategy for Gillette, and based on the sales, many Indians prefer it to what they were using. Somehow this is a bad thing? I know it's popular here to slam the big, evil, corporate monstrosity of P&G, and it's hard to get past that and admit that they're not somehow manipulating the Indian market and hypnotizing the Indian men, forcing them to buy the Guard in such numbers that it's now the number one razor system in the world.

And let's not forget, they always have the option of not shaving at all.

Where does the Guard fit into any grand scheme of marketing razors -- a "Minimum"

A very few days ago, a very incomplete comparison of plastic shavers appeared here on the forum. Only the Guard and the Wilkinson Bonded were referenced, no other disposable, and no other comparable Classic Era shaving utensils.

Personally, I was only vaguely aware that the Wilkinson Bonded had ever existed. The example I've obtained since reading that article/posting has a very obvious defect on the blade of the first cartridge I loaded into it, a small indented irregularity where the blade's edge is non-uniform. I haven't shaved with it, since I also feel that the Bic "Metal" disposable should be included, and I will have to order five to get one.

I have no plan at this point to include the Guard. Since my oldest kid prefers disposables, I have borrowed a Bic "Sensitive" all-plastic disposable from him (the blade has no visible irregularities). It is my opinion that all "modern" razors owe a great deal more to the Schick Injector designs than to either the DEs or SEs, and I'm going to have a small one-person comparative review going after the Bic Metals arrive from Drugstore.Com, including the G8 type Injector that had been as close as I'd gotten to the Injector(s) I used during 1957/ 1962 for my Senior year of high school, and my bachelors degree in college.

Since I kinda doubt that anything particularly surprising is a likely result, and one person's results are so easily warped by personal subjectivity, I make no promise that I will "publish" any results here when I do collect all of the proposed test razors (I'm not even certain whether I will test more than one Injector, because collectors seem to have driven the longer-handled Injectors up in price beyond what I want to spend, myself, on a whim such as what this idea I have amounts to.

The Guard sucks. If P&G flood India with that plastic then DE razor blade manufacture will cease there and it will be harder to get DE blades. They are using a single blade as not to rock the boat but then once every Indian uses this product in 5 years they will have a Guard II and so on and they will charge more money for it. I hate P&G and any company that puts a battery (that it owns the brand of by the way) into a multi-blade cart system razor does not cut it with me. If I want power in my shaving instrument I will by an electric shaver. The Guard is plastic and plastic pollutes the planet! Like I said before Gillette offer lots of choice as long as you choose their products!

I don't recycle anything or give a second thought to the motive or agenda behind things I consume a lot of times. I do, however, try to spend the least amount of money possible when buying necessities.

I don't agree for one second that a plastic item is any more "good" or "evil" than an item made out of any other material.
Every material has an impact in one way or another. Either directly or indirectly.

The energy to refine enough metal for a razor handle and the effluent created in manufacturing and plating it is probably substantial. The combined byproducts of manufacturing and generating energy to produce things is much more than people realize. Sometimes what is perceived as 'green' really is not.

Since the ecologically responsible shaving club didn't grant me admittance, I chucked my obsidian blade and started down the cartridge razor trial and testing route. I still use my DE 95% of the time or more though.

I do care about what kind of world I leave behind though. So, I tend to consume things that need to be replaced. Because, in the end I want to create jobs. Someone will need to hire people to replace all the cool stuff I break during my time cartwheeling through this life.

I bought some from India on Ebay over a week ago - it took them 9 days to get around to posting them.
When I was looking at the listings, you could buy one handle and 8 cartridges for $8, and twice as many for $9.50. So don't just go for the cheapest when ordering.
Regards,
Renato

I bought a Gillette Guard and several refills for travel and they work great. I get an incredibly close shave from them and no matter how much pressure I use, there's no irritation, nicks or weepers. I think it's a great product.

"Squeezing bucks"?? They're not forcing anyone to buy them and there's plenty of alternatives to be found. Give the Indians some credit. If they're buying up the Guard, it just might be because they've found that they're worth it, and not every one in India is dirt poor.